SEAL Survival Guide (53 page)

3. DON’T MELT

You are out of the water but not out of danger. The next thing you need to think about is exposure to the sun and preventing heatstroke. (For information on treating heatstroke, see “Survival Medicine,”
page 305
.) The warm sun may feel good on your wet body and be a welcome sight after a long night, but twelve hours later the sun will become increasingly dangerous. Wet skin will burn, and the burned skin will peel away, leaving exposed blisters and absolute misery. You need to make a canopy to block the sun. Use sheets, towels, even trash bags—the brighter the better, to reflect the sun’s rays and for signaling. For example, white will contrast very well against the ocean waters, making your raft more visible to anyone searching for you.

4. GET WATER

The irony of your situation is that you are surrounded by millions of gallons of water, but you can’t drink it. You may want to, but don’t. Salt water will accelerate the dehydration process. Humans can live about three days without water.
You must ration what you have and gather what you can.
Do not drink any water the first twenty-four hours. You will be relatively fresh during this time, and withholding water from yourself will make your body go into a conservation mode to fight against the effects of dehydration.

Collect drinkable water

Storms are a frequent event in the oceans and seas and may be the reason you are in the situation you are in. There is, however, something good to come from them: rain. Take every opportunity to gather as much as you can, and try to keep it from becoming contaminated with salt water. Another way to produce fresh water is through use of a desalination pump or tablets. This is simply a tool that removes the salt from water, making it drinkable. However, you are unlikely to have access to these items in a dire survival scenario.

Solar still

A final solution for producing or gathering drinking water is the use of a solar still. This is done by causing salt water to evaporate, leaving the salt behind, and then collecting the condensation, which will be fresh water.

1. Get a bucket and pour several inches of salt water into it. You can also use salt-water-soaked towels or clothes.

2. Place a smaller container in the middle of the bottom of the bucket (it must be tall enough to clear the salt water).

3. Cover the top of the bucket with plastic, and make an airtight seal around the outside of the bucket.

4. Place some type of weight in the middle of the plastic wrap.

As the seawater in the bucket evaporates, leaving the salt content in the bottom of the bucket, the fresh water will condense on the plastic wrap. This freshwater condensation will drain to the lowest point of the plastic wrap (the area depressed by the weight) and drip into the container below. This is your drinkable water. It won’t produce much, but it may be just enough to fight the effects of dehydration and keep you alive.

5. FIND FOOD

As we continue down the list of life-saving priorities, food becomes essential. The ocean offers a vast variety of edible solutions, from kelp to sea turtles to birds. The best and most obvious choice, however, is fish and, to a lesser extent, plankton. Some folks fish for fun, but you will be doing it to survive. You can catch fish in a number of ways.

Spear

This is the best method for catching larger fish, which will provide food for many days. However, proper use of a spear requires the most skill and consumes the most energy. Make sure you feel your chances of successfully spearing a fish are high. Spears can be made from boat hooks, gaffs, PVC pipe, or scraps from metal railings. In addition to a sharp, penetrating point, it will be helpful if your spear has a line attached to it that is fastened to your arm. Retrieving a spear can be an exhausting endeavor.

Net

Provided you have the material, this can be a very efficient way to collect not only fish but other, smaller edible forms of marine life such as plankton. Smaller fish are generally attracted to rafts. They hide under or around rafts or floating objects to naturally protect themselves from larger fish. Nets can be improvised from trash bags, clothing, even a bucket with small holes in the bottom.

Hook and line

If you have fishing line, great. If not, thin twine or even dental floss can be made to serve as fishing line. You can set out lines to wait for the
fish to come to you. This is an effective way to get the food you need and expends very little of your energy. Hooks can be made from safety pins, wood, or paper clips, or anything that has a sharpened, pointed end. A small piece of food or blood-soaked cloth will provide great bait. Fishing is all about percentages, so the more hooks you have in the water, the better your chances of catching a fish.

6. SIGNAL FOR HELP

This may be your best and last chance to be rescued, so be prepared to signal at a moment’s notice. Understand that based on your height and the curvature of the earth, your visual distance is only ten to fifteen miles. You may see that Coast Guard cutter or helicopter in the distance, but they won’t necessarily see you.

Mirror and reflection

Mirrors, or anything that catches and reflects sunlight, can be highly effective during the day and can be seen for miles. Extend your arm toward the object that you to want to signal and make a V with your fingers. The V will act like a gun sight to make certain your reflection hits the target you want. Aim the mirror between your gun-sight fingers and point it directly at the passing ship, for example, or airplane, to ensure that your signal is noticed.

Flare or smoke

A flare at night is one of the very best forms of signaling. Smoke is used for signaling only during the day. If you use a flare, ensure that you are holding it as high as possible and away from your raft. The threat of fire is high with these items. Additionally, a fire extinguisher can be used as an improvised smoke signal.

Dye markers

Dye markers are yet another way to signal. Many of them are water activated and will produce a bright green or orange cloud in the water that can last several hours.

Raft Survival

If you are lucky enough to have a raft, you have greatly increased your chances of survival, but you are by no means out of the woods—or should we say out of the water—yet.

1. If you have just boarded the raft, immediately tie a line to you and to a part of the raft, or to someone else on the raft. If the raft flips over due to wind or waves, you will still be able to climb back into it.

2. Take the next several minutes to locate, and take a quick inventory of, the supplies you now have in the raft and anything in the area that may useful. Pay particularly close attention to brightly colored items that could be used for signaling, and to plastics or other objects that could be used for rainwater collection. This may be your last opportunity to gather these items.

3. Stay in the vicinity of your vessel’s last known location. The closer you can stay to that location, the better your chance of being found, since that’s where rescue efforts will begin. Therefore, you should deploy a sea anchor. This will minimize the amount your raft travels due to wind and current, and keep you closer to the original abandoned-ship site. If your raft doesn’t have a sea anchor, you can make one by using line and a bucket. This will also help to steady the raft in rough seas.

NOT ROOM FOR EVERYONE?

There is a chance that your raft will not be large enough or has been damaged and can’t adequately hold the entire group at once. If this is the case, you will have to place some people in the water. This must be done on a rotation. By doing this you are extending the total time for the group’s survival
and
building group cohesion through shared sacrifice. Rotation time will be based on water temperature and the strength of the group. Never leave someone in the water long enough that their core temperature is significantly impacted.

Sea-Induced Delusions: “My Mind Is Playing Tricks on Me”

When you are lost at sea, your body and mind will be dealing with an exhausting environment. You will be hot, cold, thirsty, hungry, tired, and stressed. Your mental toughness is going to be pushed to the limit. You will become very aware of the usefulness of your comfort-zone exercises.